UK. NO PARDON FOR RUTH ELLIS

documents revealed that 50 years after her death, convicted killer Ruth Ellis had been secretly denied a pardon by the British Government. The decision had been kept under wraps for fear of unleashing protests which could have embarrassed ministers. Ellis, 28, became the last woman to be hanged in Britain after shooting dead her lover David Blakely in 1955.
Solicitors for her family presented new evidence of "provocation and diminished responsibility", saying she was driven to kill after being beaten and having a miscarriage. But Home Secretary Charles Clarke agreed with a senior Government lawyer there was no case for a pardon, the leaked papers disclosed.
The case was compared to that of Derek Bentley. He was pardoned in 1999 after being hanged at 19 for shooting dead a policeman in 1953, even though he did not pull the trigger.
The lawyer said: "Ruth Ellis fired the gun. Bentley was only an accomplice. There can be no justification for any pardon.
"Ellis has always been high profile. We will not publicise the decision and I cannot see it is in the interests of the solicitors (representing the family) to do so." A Whitehall source said: "Bentley"s pardon stirred up bad feeling and damaged the Government. It doesn’t want a repeat when it is trying to look tough on crime.”
Hostess Ellis shot dead racing driver Blakely, 25, outside a pub in Hampstead, North West London, after a furious row.
A jury took 14 minutes to convict her of murder. She was hanged in three weeks. Campaigners say Ellis was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. She was battered by Blakely. Ten days before the shooting she lost her baby after he punched her in the stomach.